Neo-Nazi activity is a global phenomenon, with organized representation in many countries, as well as international networks. In some European and Latin American countries, laws have been enacted that prohibit the expression of pro-Nazi, racist, anti-Semitic or homophobic views. Many Nazi-related symbols are banned in European countries in an effort to curtail neo-Nazism.[7][8][9]

The major postwar far-right party was the Austrian National Democratic Party (NDP), until it was banned in 1988 for violating Austria's anti-Nazi legislation, Verbotsgesetz 1947.[10] The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) served as a shelter for ex-Nazis almost from its inception. In 1980, scandals undermined Austria's two main parties, and the economy stagnated. Jörg Haider became leader of the FPÖ and offered partial justification for Nazism, calling its employment policy effective. In the 1994 Austrian election, the FPÖ won 22 percent of the vote, as well as 33 percent of the vote in Carinthia and 22 percent in Vienna; showing that it had become a force capable of reversing the old pattern of Austrian politics.[11]

Historian Walter Laqueur writes that even though Haider welcomed former Nazis at his meetings and went out of his way to address Schutzstaffel (SS) veterans, the FPÖ is not a fascist party in the traditional sense, since it has not made anti-communism an important issue, and does not advocate the overthrow of the democratic order or the use of violence. In his view, the FPÖ is "not quite fascist", although it is part of a tradition, similar to that of 19th-century Viennese mayor Karl Lueger, that involves nationalism, xenophobic populism, and authoritarianism.[12] Professor Ali Mazrui, however, identified the FPÖ as neo-Nazi in a BBC world lecture.[13]

The volume Rechtsextremismus in Österreich seit 1945 (Right-wing Extremism in Austria since 1945), issued by DÖW in 1979, listed nearly 50 active far right organizations in Austria. Their influence waned gradually, partly due to liberalization programs in secondary schools and universities that emphasized Austrian identity and democratic traditions. Votes for the RFS (Ring Freiheitlicher Studenten), the Freedom Party's academic student organization, in student elections fell from 30% in the 1960s to 2% in 1987. In the 1995 elections for the student representative body Österreichische Hochschülerschaft (Austrian Students' Association), the RFS got 4% of the vote. The FPÖ won 22% of the votes at the General Election in the same year.[17]

A radical non-parliamentary, anti-democratic far-right organization active in Austria was the VAPO (Volkstreue Außerparlamentarische Opposition) founded by the Austrian neo-Nazi Gottfried Küssel in 1986, who publicly declared to be a member of the US-American neo-Nazi organization NSDAP/AO since 1977. Neither an association nor a party, the VAPO was loosely organized in "Kameradschaften" (comradeships) and defined itself as a "battle alliance of nationalist groups and persons" with the aims of "reestablishing the NSDAP" and the "seizure of power".[18] In 1993 Küssel was repeatedly convicted on charges of "NS-Wiederbetätigung" (re-engagement in national socialism) under the Austrian anti-Nazi law (Verbotsgesetz 1947) and sentenced to ten years of prison.[19] The VAPO de facto disbanded in the course of the imprisonment of its leading figures, much due to its loose organizational structure. Due to procedural errors Küssel's sentence was revoked by the OGH (Austrian Supreme Court) and the trial reheld in 1994 where Küssel was sentenced to eleven years in prison.[20]

A police operation, which mobilized 150 agents, searched five military barracks (in Leopoldsburg near the Dutch border: Kleine-Brogel, Peer, Brussels (Royal military school) and Zedelgem– as well as 18 private addresses in Flanders. They found weapons, munitions, explosives, and a homemade bomb large enough to make "a car explode." The leading suspect, B.T., was organizing the trafficking of weapons, and was developing international links, in particular with the Dutch far right movement De Nationale Alliantie.[24][25][26][27][28][29]

Two further incidents of neo-Nazism in Belgium include: Demonstrators at an anti-Israel rally in Antwerp, on November 18, 2012 chanted “Hamas, Hamas, all Jews to the gas.", Murdering Jews by gas was the most common of murder methods by the Nazis, after 1941. On October 9, 2012 in Brussels, A synagogue was vandalized by two unidentified male perpetrators who spray-painted “death to the Jews” and “boom” on the wall of the Beth Hillel synagogue.

Neo-Nazis in Croatia base their ideology on the writings of Ante Pavelić and the Ustaše, a fascist anti-Yugoslav separatist movement.[33] The Ustaše regime committed a genocide against Serbs, Jews and Gypsies. At the end of World War II, many Ustaše members fled to the West, where they found sanctuary and continued their political and terrorist activities (which were tolerated because of Cold War hostilities).[34][35] Jonathan Levy, a lawyer who represented plaintiffs in a 1999 lawsuit against the Ustaše and others, said: "Many are still terrified of the Ustashe, the Serbs particularly. Unlike the Nazi Party, the Ustashe still exist and have a party headquarters in Zagreb."[36]

In 1999, Zagreb's Square of the Victims of Fascism was renamed The Square of The Great Men of Croatia, provoking widespread criticism of Croatia's attitude toward the Holocaust.[37] In 2000, the city council renamed the square the Square of the Victims of Fascism.[38] Many streets in Croatia were renamed after the prominent Ustaše figure Mile Budak, which provoked outrage amongst the Serbian minority. Since 2002, there has been a reversal of this development, and streets with the name of Mile Budak or other persons connected with the Ustaše movement are few or non-existent.[39] A plaque in Slunj with the inscription "Croatian Knight Jure Francetić" was erected to commemorate Francetić, the notorious Ustaše leader of the Black Legion. The plaque remained there for four years, until it was removed by the authorities.[39][40]

In 2006, Roman Ilin, a Jewish theatre director from St. Petersburg, Russia, was attacked by neo-Nazis when returning from an underground tunnel after a rehearsal. Ilin subsequently accused Estonian police of indifference after filing the incident.[53] When a dark-skinned French student was attacked in Tartu, the head of an association of foreign students claimed that the attack was characteristic of a wave of neo-Nazi violence. An Estonian police official, however, stated that there were only a few cases involving foreign students over the previous two years.[54] In November 2006, the Estonian government passed a law banning the display of Nazi symbols.[55]

The 2008 United Nations Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur's Report noted that community representatives and non-governmental organizations devoted to human rights had pointed out that neo-Nazi groups were active in Estonia—particularly in Tartu—and had perpetrated acts of violence against non-European minorities.[56]

Neo-Nazi organizations in France are outlawed, yet a significant number exist.[57] Legal far-right groups are also numerous, and include the Bloc identitaire, created by former members of Christian Bouchet's Unité Radicale group. Close to National Bolshevism and Third Position ideologies, Unité Radicale was dissolved in 2002 following Maxime Brunerie's assassination attempt on July 14, 2002 against then-President Jacques Chirac. Christian Bouchet had previously been a member of Nouvelle Résistance (NR), an offshoot of Troisième Voie (Third Way) which described itself as "nationalist revolutionary". Although Nouvelle Résistance at first opposed the "national conservatives" of Jean-Marie Le Pen's National Front, it changed strategy, adopting the slogan "Less Leftism! More Fascism![58] " Nouvelle Résistance was also a successor to Jean-François Thiriart's Jeune Europe neo-Nazi Europeanist movement of the 1960s, which had participated in the National Party of Europe, along with Oswald Mosley's Union Movement, Otto Strasser and others. The French government estimated that neo-Nazi groups in France had 3,500 members.[59] In 2011 alone, 129 violent actions were recorded in France against the Jewish pupulation, with 60.5% of those cases occurring in the Île-de-France region. The CNCDH notes that in 19 cases, these violent actions could be imputed to persons of ‘Arab origin or Muslim confession’, with 15 others relating to neo-Nazi ideology, mainly consisting of displaying swastikas. In relation to these violent actions 36 persons were arrested, 28 of whom were minors. Of the 129 violent actions recorded, 50.4% were for degradations, 44.2% for violence and assault and battery, and the remaining 5.4% for arson. In France in 2011, 260 threats were recorded, with 53% of those (138 cases) occurring in the Île-de-France region. Of these threats, 15% related to neo-Nazi ideology, with another 14% imputable to persons of ‘Arab origin or Muslim confession’. Thirty-two persons were arrested in relation to these threats, nine of whom were minors. Of the 260 threats, 44% consisted of speech acts and threatening gestures and insults, 38% of graffiti and the remaining 18% of pamphlets and emails.[60]

In Germany, immediately after World War II, Allied forces and the new German government attempted to prevent the creation of the new Nazi movement through a process known as denazification. However, with the onset of the Cold War it had lost interest in prosecuting anyone.[61] Many of the more than 90,000 Nazi war criminals recorded in German files were serving in positions of prominence under Chancellor Konrad Adenauer.[62][63] Not until 1964 and 1965 were the former SS members from Treblinka brought to trial by West Germany.[64] The government had passed laws prohibiting Nazis from publicly expressing their beliefs. Displaying the swastika became an offense punishable by up to one year imprisonment. Nevertheless, some former National Socialists retained their political beliefs and passed them down to new generations who formed the extreme-right National Democratic Party.[65]

After German reunification in the 1990s, post-National Socialist groups gained more followers, mostly among the younger generation in the former East Germany.[65] They have expressed an aversion to people from Slavic countries (especially Poland) and people of other national backgrounds who moved from the former West Germany into the former East Germany after Germany was reunited.[66] According to the annual report of Germany's interior intelligence service (Verfassungsschutz) for 2012, at the time there were 26,000 right-wing extremists living in Germany, including 6,000 neo-Nazis.[67] The Neo-Nazi organizations are not outlawed in Germany,[65] although Holocaust denial is, according to the German Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch § 86a) and § 130 (public incitement).

In the elections of 6 May 2012, Golden Dawn received 6.97% of the votes, entering the Greek parliament for the first time with 21 representatives. Due to no coalition amongst the elected parties so as to form a Greek Government, new elections were proclaimed.

In the elections of 17 June 2012, Golden Dawn received 6.92% of the votes, entering the Greek parliament with 18 representatives.

Today, Neo-Nazism in Hungary takes the form of hatred towards Judaism and Israel, it can be observed from many prominent Hungarian politicians. The most famous example is the MIÉP-Jobbik Third Way Alliance of Parties. Antisemitism in Hungary is manifested mainly in far right publications and demonstrations. Hungarian Justice and Life Party supporters continued their tradition of shouting antisemitic slogans and tearing the US flag to shreds at their annual rallies in Budapest in March 2003 and 2004, commemorating the 1848–49 revolution. Further, during the demonstrations held to celebrate the anniversary of the 1956 uprising, a post-Communist tradition celebrated by the left and right of the political spectrum, antisemitic and anti-Israel slogans were heard from the right wing, such as accusing Israel of war crimes. The center-right traditionally keeps its distance from the right-wing Csurka-led and other far-right demonstrations.[70]

The Coordination Forum for Countering Antisemitism reports that on 17 May 2011 in Leek, Groningen, antisemitic graffiti was found at a Jewish school. The graffiti consisted of a swastika and the text “C18”, or Combat 18, a neo-Nazi organisation active throughout Europe. The number 18 refers to the initials of Adolf Hitler, A and H being the first and eighth letters of the alphabet, respectively.[71]

Russian neo-Nazis have made it an explicit goal to take over the country by force, and have put serious effort into preparing for this. Paramilitary organizations operating under the guise of sports clubs have trained their members in squad tactics, hand to hand combat and weapons handling. They have stockpiled and used weapons, often illegally.

Observers have noted the irony of Russians embracing neo-Nazism, because one of Hitler's ambitions at the start of World War II was to exterminate, expel, or enslave most or all Slavs from central and eastern Europe (i.e., Russians, Ukrainians, Poles etc.).[73] At the end of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, over 25 million Soviet citizens had died.[74] In a 2007 news story, ABC News reported, "In a country that lost more people defeating the Nazis than any other country, there are now an estimated 50,000 to 70,000 neo-Nazis, half of the world's total."[75] This irony is further exemplified when looking at neo-Nazi groups such as the Gay Aryan Skinheads (GASH) and the Gay Aryan National Socialists (GANS), who emphasise the "man's fight" for fascism in Russia; these groups together have thousands of members. One of these groups, GANS, has a flag depicting two crossed erect penises beneath a swastika. [76]

The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 caused great economic and social problems, including widespread unemployment and poverty. Several far rightparamilitary organizations were able to tap into popular discontent, particularly among marginalized, lesser educated and unemployed youths. Of the three major age groups — youths, adults, and the elderly — youths may have been hit the hardest. The elderly suffered due to inadequate (or unpaid) pensions, but they found effective political representation in the Communist Party, and generally had their concerns addressed through better budget allocations. Adults, although often suffering financially and psychologically due to job losses, were generally able to find new sources of income.

Russian National Unity (RNE), founded in 1990 and led by Alexander Barkashov, has claimed to have members in 250 cities. RNE adopted the swastika as its symbol, and sees itself as the avant-garde of a coming national revolution. It is critical of other major far right organizations, such as the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR). Historian Walter Laqueur calls RNE far closer to the Nazi model than the LDPR. RNE publishes several news sheets; one of them, Russky poryadok, claims to have a circulation of 150,000. Full members of RNE are called Soratnik (comrades in arms), receive combat training at locations near Moscow, and many of them work as security officers or armed guards.[77]

On August 15, 2007, Russian authorities arrested a student for allegedly posting a video on the Internet which appears to show two migrant workers being beheaded in front of a red and black swastika flag.[78] Alexander Verkhovsky, the head of a Moscow-based center that monitors hate crime in Russia, said, "It looks like this is the real thing. The killing is genuine ... There are similar videos from the Chechen war. But this is the first time the killing appears to have been done intentionally."[79] A Russian neo-Nazi group called the Russian National Socialist Party claimed responsibility for the murders.

Neo-Nazism in Serbia is mostly based on national and religious factors. Nacionalni stroj (National Alignment), a neo-Nazi organization from the Vojvodina region, orchestrated several incidents. Charges were laid against 18 of the leading members.[80]

In 1991 Svoboda (political party) was founded as the 'Social-National Party of Ukraine'.[100] The party combined radical nationalism and neo-Nazi features.[101] It was renamed and rebranded 13 years later as 'All-Ukrainian Association Svoboda' in 2004 under Oleh Tyahnybok. By 2005 an important step toward heroization of Ukrainian nationalism was Victor Yushchenko's appointment of Svoboda member Volodymyr Viatrovych as head of the Ukrainian security service (SBU) archives. This allowed Viatrovych not only to sanitize ultra nationalist history, but also officially promote its dissemination along with OUN(b) ideology based on 'ethnic purity' coupled with anti-Russian, anti-Polish and anti-semitic rhetoric; denial of UPA war crimes, and the paradoxical glorification of Nazi history with concomitant denial of wartime collaboration wrote Professor Per Anders Rudling.[102]:229–230 The extreme right wing now capitalize on 'Yushchenkoist' propaganda initiatives.[102]:235 This includes Iuryi Mykahl’chyshyn, an ideologue who proudly confesses himself part of the fascist tradition.[102] The autonomous nationalists focus on recruiting younger people, participates in violent actions, quoting "anti-bourgeoism, anti-capitalism, anti-globalism, anti-democratism, anti-liberalism, anti-bureaucratism, anti-dogmatism". In 2009 Svoboda fetched 34% of votes in one region of the state. Svoboda is part of a right wing Alliance of European National Movements.[102] Per Anders Rulig has suggested that "Viktor Yanukovych has indirectly aided Svoboda" by "granting Svoboda representatives disproportionate attention in the media".[102]:247

Neo-Nazi activity is not common or widespread in Israel, and the few activities reported have all been the work of extremists, who were punished severely. One notable case is that of Patrol 36, a cell in Petah Tikva made up of eight teenage immigrants from the former Soviet Union who had been attacking foreign workers and homosexuals, and vandalizing synagogues with Nazi images.[111][112] These neo-Nazis were reported to have operated in cities across Israel, and have been described as being influenced by the rise of neo-Nazism in Europe.[111][112][113] Widely publicized arrests have led to a call to reform the Law of Return to permit the revocation of Israeli citizenship for – and the subsequent deportation of – neo-Nazis.[112]

Neo-Nazism is a growing political force in Mongolia. From 2008, Mongolian Neo-Nazi groups have defaced buildings in Ulan Bator, smashed Chinese shopkeepers' windows, and killed pro-Chinese Mongols. The Neo-Nazi Mongols' targets for violence are Chinese, Koreans,[114] Mongol women who sleep with Chinese men, and LGBT people.[115] They wear Nazi uniforms and revere the Mongol Empire and Genghis Khan. During World War II, the invading Nazi Germans also recruited Mongol Kalmyks to fight for them against the Soviet Union. Though Tsagaan Khass leaders say they do not support violence, they are self-proclaimed Nazis. "Adolf Hitler was someone we respect. He taught us how to preserve national identity," said the 41-year-old co-founder, who calls himself Big Brother. "We don't agree with his extremism and starting the Second World War. We are against all those killings, but we support his ideology. We support nationalism rather than fascism." Some have ascribed it to poor historical education.[114]

The National Socialism Association (NSA) is a neo-Nazi political organisation founded in Taiwan in September 2006 by Hsu Na-chi (Chinese: 許娜琦), at that time a 22-year-old female political science graduate of Soochow University. The NSA has an explicit stated goal of obtaining the power to govern the state. The NSA views Adolf Hitler as its leader and often proclaims "Long live Hitler" (Heil Hitler) as one of its slogans. The Simon Wiesenthal Centre condemned the National Socialism Association on March 13, 2007 for championing the former Nazi dictator and blaming democracy for Taiwan's "social unrest."[4]

Neo-Nazism in Canada began with the formation of the Canadian Nazi Party in 1965. In the 1970s and 1980s, neo-Nazism continued to spread in the country as organizations including the Western Guard and Church of the Creator (later renamed as Creativity) promoted white supremacist ideals.[133] Founded in the United States in 1973, Creativity calls for white people to wage racial holy war (Rahowa) against Jews and other perceived enemies.[134]

Don Andrews founded the Nationalist Party of Canada in 1977. The purported goals of the unregsistered party are "the promotion and maintenance of European Heritage and Culture in Canada," but the party is known for anti-Semitism and racism. Many influential neo-Nazi Leaders, such as Wolfgang Droege, were affiliated with the party, but many of its members left to join the Heritage Front, which was founded in 1989.[135]

Droege founded the Heritage Front in in Toronto at a time when leaders of the white supremacist movement were “disgruntled about the state of the radical right” and wanted to unite unorganized groups of white supremacists into an influential and efficient group with common objectives.[135] Plans for the organization began in September 1989, and the formation of the Heritage Front was formally announced a couple of months later in November. In the 1990s, George Burdi of Resistance Records and the band Rahowa popularized the Creativity movement and the white power music scene.[136]

Controversy and dissention has left many Canadian neo-Nazi organizations dissolved or weakened.[135]

After the dissolution of the National Socialist Movement of Chile (MNSCH) in 1938, notable former members of MNSCH migrated into Partido Agrario Laborista (PAL), obtaining high positions.[137] Not all former MNSCH members joined the PAL; some continued to form parties that followed the MNSCH model until 1952.[137] A new old-school Nazi party was formed in 1964 by school teacher Franz Pfeiffer.[137] Among the activities of this group were the organization of a Miss Nazi beauty contest and the formation of a Chilean branch of the Ku Klux Klan.[137] The party disbanded in 1970. Pfeiffer attempted to restart it in 1983 in the wake of a wave of protests against the Augusto Pinochet regime.[137]

Nicolás Palacios considered the "Chilean race" to be a mix of two bellicose master races: the Visigoths of Spain and the Mapuche (Araucanians) of Chile.[138] Palacios traces the origins of the Spanish component of the "Chilean race" to the coast of the Baltic Sea, specifically to Götaland in Sweden,[138] one of the supposed homelands of the Goths. Palacios claimed that both the blonde-haired and the bronze-coloured Chilean Mestizo share a "moral physonomy" and a masculine psychology.[139] He opposed immigration from Southern Europe, and argued that Mestizos who are derived from south Europeans lack "cerebral control" and are a social burden.[140]

^Brigitte Bailer-Galanda; Wolfgang Neugebauer. "Right-Wing Extremism in Austria: History, Organisations, Ideology". Right-wing extremism can be equated neither with Nazism nor with neo-Fascism or neo-Nazism. Neo-Nazism, a legal term, is understood as the attempt to propagate, in direct defiance of the law (Verbotsgesetz), Nazi ideology or measures such as the denial, playing-down, approval or justification of Nazi mass murder, especially the Holocaust.

^Martin Frost. "Neo Nazism". The term neo-Nazism refers to any social or political movement seeking to revive National Socialism, and which postdates the Second World War. Often, especially internationally, those who are part of such movements do not use the term to describe themselves.

^Peter Vogelsang & Brian B. M. Larsen (2002). "Neo-Nazism". The Danish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. Retrieved 2007-12-08. Neo-Nazism is the name for a modern offshoot of Nazism. It is a radically right-wing ideology, whose main characteristics are extreme nationalism and violent xenophobia. Neo-Nazism is, as the word suggests, a modern version of Nazism. In general, it is an incoherent right-extremist ideology, which is characterised by ‘borrowing’ many of the elements that constituted traditional Nazism.

^Ondřej Cakl & Klára Kalibová (2002). "Neo-Nazism". Faculty of Humanities at Charles University in Prague, Department of Civil Society Studies. Retrieved 2007-12-08. Neo-Nazism: An ideology which draws upon the legacy of the Nazi Third Reich, the main pillars of which are an admiration for Adolf Hitler, aggressive nationalism (“nothing but the nation”), and hatred of Jews, foreigners, ethnic minorities, homosexuals and everyone who is different in some way.

^Martin Polley (200). A-Z of Modern Europe Since 1789. Routledge. p. 103. ISBN0-415-18597-1. OCLC49569961. Neo-Nazism, drawing heavily both on the ideology and aesthetics of the NSDAP, emerged in many parts of Europe and elsewhere in the economic crises of the 1970s, and has continued to influence a number of small political groups.

^Rückerl, Adalbert (1972), NS-Prozesse, Karlsruhe, Germany: Verlag C F Muller, p. 132, retrieved 8 September 2013, Adalbert Rückerl, head of the Central Bureau for the Prosecution of National Socialist Crimes observed that because of the 1968 Dreher's amendment (§ 50 StGB), 90% of all Nazi war criminals in Germany enjoyed total immunity from prosecution.

Shadows Over Europe: The Development and Impact of the Extreme Right in Western Europe edited by Martin Schain, Aristide Zolberg, and Patrick Hossay (Palgrave Macmillan; 1st edition, 2002, ISBN 0-312-29593-6)